Improvement in lawn-mowers



A. INGRHAM.

Lawn Mower.

No; 112,146. Patented Feb. 28, 1871.

or. Wzuhingln UNITED STATES PATENT Grrren.

AMER INGBHAM, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNQR TO YVILLIAM L. BOYER & BROTHER, ()F SAME PLACE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 112,146, dated February 28, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AMER INGRHAM, of the city of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Hand Lawn-Mowers, of which the following is a specification:

My invention relates to the construction and arrangement, in a hand lawn-mower, of a rotary cutter and a planetary-gear motion, c011- neeted and operating together substantially as herein described and set forth; the object of said invention being to give increased velocity to the motion of the cutter of a hand lawn mower, without increasing the usual speed of the movement of the machine over the lawn, and to render less power suffieient to operate it.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section of the said hand lanai mower (without the usual handles) on the right-hand side of the dotted line 2: w of Fig. 2. tudinal section of the same machine on the left-hand side of the dotted line .00 y of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, A A are the earrying -wheels on the main aXle a; B B I) b", the main frame; 0 G c 0 0, the planetary-gear motion; D, the rotary cutter; E E, the geanwheels which connect the rotary cutter with the planetary-gear motion; F, the roller for supporting the forward or cutter end of the frame, and G the plate for.supporting the standing grass against the shearing action of the cutter upon the latter.

The carrying-wheels A A, in this instance, are secured rigidly or fixedly to the main axle a by means of set-screws a a; but the required forward rotary motion of the said axle may be given, if preferred, by means of a ratchet-toothed wheel and pawl, in connection with it, and either one or both of the drivingwheels, in the usual manner, for the purpose of permitting a backward movement of the machine without continuing the, rotary motions in the planetary gear and the cutter D.

The spur-wheel c and the pinion c of the planetary-gear motion are each fixed eoncen' trically around on opposite ends of a hollow shaft, 4, which fits, like a sleeve, around the shaft to, and with the hub of the wheel 0 Fig. 2 is a vertical longi against the inner side of one of the end disks B of the frame, while the pinion c is in the same vertical plane with the large toothed concave wheel 0', which is rigidly fixed upon the bars I) b of the said frame, so as to be concentric in relation to the main shaft a.

The two pinions or wheels 0 G are each secured to rotate freely at the respective ends of an equal-armed carrying-bar, 5, through which the shaft to fits accurately, and is held rigidly to the latter by means of an adjustable thim ble, 6, provided with interlocking projections or recesses, which fit into like recesses or projections 011 the abutting hub of the said bar, and is also adjustably secured to the shaft a by a set-screw, 7, so that when interlocked with the thimble 6, fixed rigidly to the shaft (0, as described, the rotary motion of the shaft to will carry around the said bar 5 but when the latter is released by setting the said thimble 6 back, the shaft (1 may be rotated without its carrying around with it the said bar 5.

The two wheels or pinions G O are alike, and, gearing into the teeth of the fixed concave wheel 0 and pinion c, revolve around the latter in the annular space which is between the said pinion and concave, and also rotating upon their respective axes in the bar 5, necessarily givea very rapid rotary motion to the spur-wheel c of the hollow shaft 4, and this latter gearing into the small wheel E, which gears into the small wheel E on the shaft of the rotary cutter D, the most rapid rotary motion that may be desired will be given to the said cutter during a moderately-slow forward movement of the machine on its carryingwheels A A.

The rotary cutter D consists of two oppositely-arranged spiral blades secured to its shaft cl, (see Fig. 2,) and rotates so that its cutting-edges will pass, like the blade of a pair of shears, just above the forward upper edge of the stationary plate G, and thus cut the grass at whatever height from the ground the said plate Gr may be supported by the roller F, as the machine is being pushed along in the forward direction.

In transporting the machine the planetarygear motion and the rotary motion of the cutter can be readily suspended by. simply setting back, on the axle a, the adjustable thimble 6, and thus allowing the axle a to rotate freely within the hollow shaft 4.

- It will be understood, without any further explanation, that the above-described connection of a rotary cutter and planetary-gear motion with a hand lawn-mower will greatly increase the velocity of the cutter, and thus effect the perfect result sought in lawn-mowing, without requiring that the machine be pushed along over the lawn with greater speed than is usually necessary in the hand lawn-mowers in common use, and that less power will be required to operate it.

I claim as my inventionf In a hand lawn-mower, the planetary gear 0 O c c c, the rotary cutter D, andthe 1nter vening gear-Wheels E E, the said parts being constructed and arranged to operate together substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth and described AMER INGRHAM.

Witnesses BENJ. MoRIsoN, WM. R. HEINS. 

